Keystone adds application deadline to beat 3% stamp duty

Although it doesn’t guarantee that all purchase cases will complete within this timeframe, Keystone will prioritise applications that are submitted by 29th January 2016.  

According to Keystone’s management information, it takes, as an industry average, 95 days to take a case from start to completion. As of today, there are just over 86 days to go until the stamp duty surcharge kicks in.

Commenting on the deadline, David Whittaker, managing director of Keystone said:

“Since the surcharge was announced we have been preparing for an increase in applications, making sure that systems are in place and staff are ready. We have also been working closely with our valuers and solicitors to ensure that they too are prepared for what we anticipate will be a very busy period.

“Getting purchase applications over the line before 1st April is our priority. It will save borrowers thousands of pounds. The deadline will give us a little over eight weeks to take cases from submission to completion. In most instances, that will be do-able – even for limited company applications which, because they require a greater underwriting skillset, can take longer to process.”